Rainbow
by Eve Royal
Summary: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Amazing how so many colours can come from a bit of light and water droplets. Amazing that so much love can come from two people and a summer on the beach. D/K


Disclaimer: I don't own TT. Leave me alone!!

A/N: Yeah, first time I've actually completed an idea in less than a week. 'sweat-drop' Ain't that pathetic? Oh, and the seagull is named after my stuffed bunny I sleep with. You can't say that you guys don't sleep with a teddy too!

* * *

**Rainbow**

_Red_

The first time he saw her she was eating a strawberry.

He stopped walking suddenly and his friends, not noticing, continued walking on the path chuckling over something or other. His eyes focused only on her lips that had turned upwards in a smile of delicious contentment. A wave of heat spread across his cheeks as a small, pink tongue peeked out between those cherub lips and licked off any remaining juice from the berry.

He noticed how her hands held a bowl that was filled with a variety of fruit – all red – and how perfect those hands were. When she pulled out a cherry with her left hand he stared, unblinking, as she separated the stem from the fruit with her teeth and, seconds later, spat out the pit into the sand.

A sudden breeze of wind blew at her and she wrapped her beach towel around herself, shivering. The white sandals that adorned her small feet were decorated with a large pink flower and for some strange reason he found himself wondering what it was about those sandals that made her feet that much more appealing. He had never been a "foot person", and the fact that he found hers attractive sent a shiver down his spine.

She crossed her legs and pulled out a handful of raspberries, then promptly shoved them into her mouth. He barely managed to keep his laugh from escaping when red juice trickled down her chin and she tried to wipe it off with her stained left hand. Biting his tongue – hard – he kept silent at the sight of the crimson smear across her chin. Obviously she knew what she had done as she grabbed a cloth from a nearby bag and cleaned her face off with it,

His fingers itched a minute later when a stray lock of scarlet fell into her face. It seemed that she either didn't notice it or that she didn't care seeing how she made no move to brush it back into place. He wondered vaguely if she knew the torture she was putting him through.

A cherry tomato was her next snack which caused his eyes to widen slightly. She popped the whole thing in her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully until she could manage to swallow it a minute later. His lips curled up in a slight grin when her nose wrinkled and she stuck her tongue out at a person next to her on the sand.

"Man, what are you doing?"

Breaking out of his reverie, he blinked furiously at sudden dry eyes. He turned his head to his friend who stood with arms crossed over his bare chest. His friend sighed heavily and motioned to another part of the beach about thirty feet away where the rest of their group was waiting to start a game of beach volleyball.

"You coming?" his friend asked.

He nodded slowly and moved his head back to the girl. An adoring smile spread across his face as he watched her throw her head back in laughter, exposing her long, slender neck.

"Just one more berry," he murmured to his friend.

He gazed at her as she dug around in the bowl and he grinned slightly when she pulled out another strawberry, smiling triumphantly. She bit into it and he swallowed when the juice stained her lips. He forced his eyes to turn aside and slowly walked away, with his friend by his side.

_Orange_

She caught herself staring at him during the bonfire that night.

This revelation caused a sudden blush to spread across her pretty face, and she was instantly questioned by her best friend. She stammered a reply that sounded something like, "Nothing," and cast her eyes towards the fire that burned in the centre of a huge circle of surfers and swimmers alike. It wasn't more than a minute later when she shyly raised her eyes to watch him again.

He was chuckling now, which was a change since the last minute. He looked better when he laughed, she surmised; he smiled when he did and a small dimple appeared in his right cheek. She found herself wishing that he would _really_ laugh, so she could hear it too.

A glass was held loosely, but carefully in his hands and was filled not with the drink of the night but with something orange. Of course, she reasoned, that could be an affect from the fire. Like everyone else around the fire, he sat on a great log that had been washed up on the beach by a storm from about a week ago. His legs were bent and his elbows rested on his knees causing him to lean forwards and _her_ to have a better look at his face. He slowly raised his glass to his lips and took a long, slow drink, his Adam's Apple moving as he swallowed. Then, when he went to lick away any liquid left in his lips, she did the same.

An arm suddenly wrapped itself around her waist and she jumped startled before moving her head to the person next to her. Her boyfriend gave her a goofy, half-drunk grin and she found herself growing annoyed at him. Deciding to stay quiet and tolerate him, she turned back to stare at _him_ again.

She watched, fascinated, as he ran a hand through unruly black hair that practically blended into the night behind him. Her eyes quickly darted over to his lips as they turned up at the corners in a small, amused smile. Then, abruptly, he straightened, laid his juice down on the ground next to him and _stretched_.

Her eyes devoured him as the T-shirt rode up, showing a firm, taunt stomach and she had to swallow to wet her sudden, dry throat. His arms lifted high above his head and he threw his head back slightly to glance up at the sky. Normally she would have as well, but it seemed she was frozen in place. He relaxed again, picked up his glass and took a light sip from it.

"Hey, babe, tell this joker that I'm right."

She blinked and being pulled back from her stupor, muttered an intelligent, "Huh?" She turned to glance at her boyfriend who raised an expectant eyebrow. She bit her lip, confused as to what she was supposed to say. Remembering that her boyfriend wasn't the smartest bloke on the beach, she smiled patiently.

"Sorry, honey, but Jake's right this time."

'Jake' pumped his arm in the air, cheering while her boyfriend muttered to himself, sulking. She shook her head at him and turned back to the guy across the bonfire.

The two locked eyes, and he smiled kindly at her.

She gasped and instantly swung her head around, blushing worse than before. What on earth was she thinking, checking out a college guy when she was just out of high school this June, _and _had a boyfriend?

_Yellow_

She swore that it was her sister's dress that gave her the courage to walk up to him the next night.

She had been thinking about him all day, and the never-fading blush on her cheeks had finally driven her to insanity. All she really wanted was to know him, be his friend. After all, it wasn't a crime to find a guy attractive and it seemed like every other girl on the beach had the same idea she did about him. No, it was just a physical attraction and natural curiosity. So, summoning up her courage, she decided to fix the problem.

There was a party that night in the clubhouse on the far side of the beach. She supposed about two hundred young adults had flocked to this party and it seemed like him and his friends had as well. Her sister would have fit in easily at such a scene. Carmen had always been brash, independent and flirtatious, and along with being well known around her old high school for being the only girl who could handle five boyfriends at a time, she was everything her little sister wasn't. It seemed that some of that attitude had seeped into the spring-summer dress because soon the red-head found herself walking over to him.

His back was turned towards her, so she slowly raised a hand and nervously tapped his shoulder. He spun about and she stepped back startled. His hand grasped her elbow while his other arm circled her waist to steady her. Her hand instinctively clutched his shirt – blue, she noted – and let herself be caught.

Taking a quick breath to calm herself, she glanced up into his face. She guessed he must have recognized her somehow because his eyes brightened and he grinned. She glanced down at his hands and he quickly retracted them. She felt a wave of disappointment, but shook it off. She _did _have a boyfriend.

"Hi," she greeted with a cheerful smile.

"Hello," he murmured, his lips tilting up into a warm smile.

"Um," she bit her lip, suddenly nervous. "Do you remember when we both... uh.. locked eyes last night?"

He nodded. "Yeah. My friend told me that some red-head was staring at me."

She blushed. "I didn't mean to. I don't usually do stuff like that. I mean, I _am_ in a relationship, but..."

His eyes darkened, but his smile remained. "I know. I'm guilty of doing that too. Though, I don't usually go up to talk to them later."

She smiled self-consciously. "Sorry, but I was wondering if we could be friends. You know, put that incident behind us and move on. You seem interesting and nice, plus I love making new friends. You can never have enough friends in my opinion!"

"Friends?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her enthusiasm. He pursed his lips thinking, before coming to a conclusion. "All right. My name's Richard." He held out a hand.

"Kory," she responded, clasping her hand in his and shaking it. She tilted her head to the side. "Wanna dance?"

He blinked at her. "I thought you had a boyfriend."

She shrugged. "He's no good at dancing. Besides, we're friends now!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.

A few minutes later found her spinning on the floor with her sunshine yellow dress flaring out around her and him standing nearby laughing with her. The lights shone down on them, causing the room to turn golden and her hair to shine orange as the red and yellow mixed.

He shook his head at her. "You're golden, you know that?"

She stopped spinning and stared at him. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "Naive. Innocent. Pure. Not many people like that these days."

She blinked at him. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"No. Just..." he tilted his head to the side and scanned her. "Just different."

_Green _

He decided that he loved the ocean.

Not that he'd ever really hated it before, but somehow it was different now. He felt gratitude towards it, as if he had to thank it for something. On second thought, maybe he really did have to thank it.

It might have been a perverted reason, but he had decided that the best thing about the sea was that it was connected to the land, and the bridge between the two was called a beach. Beaches often meant warmth, which indicated the need for swimsuits which finally concluded with the image of Kory in a bikini. Drool worthy.

It wasn't the fact that she wore skimpy bikinis, because she didn't, or that she paraded around showing it off, because that wasn't true either. Mainly it was simply because she was a natural beauty and the sight of all that golden skin sent his mind into overdrive. Just seeing her walk down the beach left his jaw hanging and his eyes wide.

He couldn't talk to her at the beach. His mouth got all dry and he couldn't form a coherent sentence without a number of stammers. Sad, really. But it wasn't as if _she _went out of her way to talk to him either. In fact, any time they locked eyes (which they did often, truth be told) she would be the one to look away first, blushing redder than her hair. It really was rather endearing.

One day (he supposed it was about ten days after they became friends), he finally had enough of his friends bugging him and walked over to talk to her. She was sitting on a beach towel watching the waves and wearing a forest green bikini. Way too hot for him. When she looked up at him she smiled and blushed a pretty light pink (for reasons unknown to him).

"Hello," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey, Kory,"he answered, smiling back. He was amazed that he could actually talk to her.

"You remembered my name!" she cried, her eyes lighting up.

"Sure I did." He angled his head to the side. "But did you remember mine?"

She scoffed. "I never forget a friend's name, Richard."

"Good." He glanced down at the beach towel while he struggled for something to say. She seemed to take it another way as she quickly shuffled over to the right and patted the extra beach towel on her left.

"Sit," she said, with a pleasant smile.

He gulped. Be that close to a goddess like her? Not a good idea. But his legs, not hearing the correct message his brain was sending, bent and seconds later he found himself sitting next to her.

She nodded, obviously pleased. Then she asked, "What brings you over here?"

He shrugged. What was he supposed to say? "You looked bored, so I came to keep you company." He glanced over at a group of surfers walking up onto the beach. One of the beach bums waved to Kory and glared at him. "He your boyfriend?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded. She frowned lightly. "He usually doesn't wave to me. Wonder why he's starting now?"

Richard raised an eyebrow. He knew why. But instead of answering her, he leaned back on the towel to lie on his back. He smiled as he watched a seagull play with the wind currents. Kory's face suddenly blocked his view of the summer sky.

"What are you doing?"

He blinked up at the two emerald orbs staring down at him. "I was watching the seagull up there."

"Oh." She tilted her head to the side slightly as she asked, "Does he have a name?"

"Silver," he answered promptly. She moved her head to gaze up at the sky. A wave of crimson hair brushed past his cheek and he shivered from their closeness. She looked back down at him, smiling.

"He's pretty," she remarked brightly.

He laughed at her softly. "Guys aren't pretty," he scolded. "Girls are."

"Fine," she pouted. "_She's_ pretty."

"But it's a guy," he told her. She shook her head, causing more hair to tickle his cheeks and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

"Nope. She's a girl and her name is Silver," she stated firmly. He shrugged and closed his eyes slowly. He felt her move back to lie next to him which made a soft smile touch his lips.

_Blue_

He caught her crying something horrible a few days later.

About a half-hour before the sunset he had excused himself from his friends and began walking up the cliffs that shadowed the beach. He didn't know where he was going exactly, but instead let his feet guide him to where they would. Obviously, _they_ had a purpose for walking and the view was spectacular.

The ocean's colour had changed from the green of the day to the royal blue of dusk. His eyes scanned the beach, noticing how scattered groups of people were leaving, either in cars or walking towards the beach houses that one rented on the left side of the beach. He and his friends had pooled their money and rented one for the summer. He hoped that one of his friends remembered the key that was hidden in his knapsack.

A sob broke through the peaceful scene and his head snapped forward to the source of the noise. His eyes softened at the sight of Kory crying, her head burrowed into her knees. She was hugging her legs forcing her body smaller and her hair fell limp down her back and around her face.

He took a step forward and coughed. She hugged her legs in even closer to her and sniffed piteously. He quickly jogged over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her towards him so her back leaned against his chest.

"Hey," he murmured. "What happened?"

She shook her head and refused to answer. He frowned lightly and removed his arms. Then he replaced his hands, this time on her waist and pulled her unto his lap. She gasped, but he ignored it and turned her sideways. He stroked her hair softly and brushed away a few wet strands on her face.

"Going to answer me now?" he asked, still soft. She sighed reluctantly and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"He cheated on me," she muttered. He straightened, astonished.

"With who?"

"The blonde at the rental shop." She frowned and grabbed his T-shirt. "Seems she was willing to give more than me."

He stared out at the sunset before them. "If it makes you feel any better, she's probably cheating on him too."

"It doesn't, but thank for trying." She sighed and sniffed again. "Know what the worst thing is?"

"What?"

"He thought I was cheating on him too."

"With who?" he asked again, squeezing her gently.

She breathed a bitter laugh. "You," she answered simply.

He stared down at her. "Me?"

She nodded and re-adjusted her grip on his shirt (another blue one, though this one as more of a baby blue than a royal blue). "Called you the 'punk who thinks he can surf'. Then he said it was obvious that you're just some stupid college guy who gets all the chicks because of his dough." She scoffed. "Then he went on to say that I had fallen under your spell and that I was no better than..." she trailed off, sighing. "I'd rather not repeat it."

"He's an idiot," he said softly. "I'd call him worse, but I don't think you appreciate words like that."

She smiled. "Thank you. He always was an idiot. But... I thought I could help him. He's had such a hard life."

"Big deal," he shrugged. "So have I. And I became a brilliant know-it-all who likes to surf." He glanced down at her. "I _can_ surf, you know. He's just jealous."

"I know." She sat up suddenly and swung around so she faced him, straddling him with her legs on either side of his waist, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He raised a hand and wiped away any remaining tears.

"Your eyes have blue in them now," he murmured. "It's pretty."

She blushed and rested her forehead against his. "Thank you," she whispered.

He nodded. "Any time. I don't like it when girls cry."

_Indigo_

She found herself falling for him from that day on, but it didn't scare her.

He was a softie, she learned, and lonely. He had friends but none of them were particularly close to him and his family wasn't very affectionate either. He was usually content, even if he didn't show it and his eyes gave away his emotions. Patience was something he had a great deal of, except when it came to immaturity and stupidity. She also knew that he adored her.

When she had mentioned that she wanted to learn how to surf, he had jumped at the chance to teach her. He had paid for her rental board and got her out into the water, telling her that she was his first student. It didn't take her long to figure out that he was a huge perfectionist, a quality that was both endearing and infuriating. After a few quick lessons she sat atop a surfboard in the middle of the ocean with him nearby.

"Are you sure you want to try?" he asked, cation and concern clear on his handsome face. She gave him an exasperated look in return.

"Richard!" she snapped. "Are you suggesting you don't believe I can do this?" She raised a warning eyebrow while her emerald eyes spoke volumes.

He gulped. "It's not that I don't believe in you, Kor," he soothed, calling her by his special nickname for her. Nobody else called her that and it gave her a thrill each time she heard it. "I think you could handle a _small_ wave, but-"

"Small? You know I'm better than that, Richard!" She was glaring fire at him and her lips had turned down in a frown.

"Kory, you're doing pretty well so far, but I don't want your luck to run out. You shouldn't take this kind of a risk-"

"If you never take risks, then you'll never get anywhere in life," she retorted, bobbing up and down in the water.

"There are ways to keep yourself safe." When she merely glared at him he sighed, exasperated. "You've only been surfing for two hours!"

"I don't care!" Looking behind her, she smirked and turned back. "You're wrong." Suddenly she shoved off and took after the large wave.

"Kory!" she heard him cry. "You idiot!" A good few swear words followed that statement, but she ignored it.

Shakily standing up on her board, she attempted to ride out the wave. Shouts and screams from other surfers surrounded her, but she tuned them out and focused only on the ocean beneath her board. She released a laugh as she continued on without trouble. A sudden shadow covered her board then, so she glanced up and released a gasp. A second wave was crashing onto her, and she had no idea how to surf between two waves. As if in slow motion, she heard Richard's cry and felt the water hit her.

She fell into the water and gasped for air, but instead swallowed water. She struggled to swim for the surface before realizing that she had no idea what direction that was in. Blackness began to creep in from the corners of her eyes and somewhere in her muddled, half-drowned mind she heard a splash different from the others. She closed her eyes and welcomed the dark, but snapped them open when an arm swung around her waist. Two perfect indigo jewels stared into hers, and slowly faded as the darkness overcame everything else...

A sudden push hit her in the chest and she felt the water rush up in her throat. She coughed it out and gulped in air – delicious, wonderful air! She heard a heavy sigh of relief on her left and she slowly turned her head and blinked open blurry eyes to see her rescuer.

"Richard?" she mumbled.

His eyes snapped back to her face and she was reminded of the eyes in the water. There was a strange fire in them and she felt a wave of fear pass through her body.

"You stupid, stupid girl," he hissed, leaning towards her. "You nearly _died_!" He shouted the last word and she winced.

"Please, Richard, my head," she whimpered. His nostrils flared and his frown deepened.

"Your head?" he repeated. "It hurts, does it?" She nodded meekly and he released a bark of bitter laughter. "Good! Maybe then you'll remember why you shouldn't _drown_!"

She cringed at the anger glowing on his face. He growled (like a wolf, she absently noted), and leaned in close so she could feel his breath drift across her face. "Next time I say you're not ready, you listen to me; do you understand?" he said quite clearly. She nodded and he sat back.

"Good. Now, are you okay? Anything else hurt besides your head?" he asked, his anger melting away into concern.

"No," she mumbled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you so bad." He took in a shaky breath and released it. "Richard?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled. "You have beautiful eyes."

_Violet_

He had wanted to kiss her all evening.

It wasn't his fault that she was wearing the most beautiful violet dress he'd ever seen, or that her hair was done up in curls. It wasn't his fault that she looked like an angel, or that he'd been fighting with himself over this very issue for the past _month_. He sighed heavily as he spun another cup of juice – this time grape – about in his hand.

It was another party, this time celebrating the first of August. He only had another two weeks before he had to return home and he was determined to get a kiss from her. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he smiled, already knowing exactly who it was.

"Hey, Kory," he greeted, turning. She pouted playfully.

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked. He chuckled.

"Just a guess. What's up?"

She shrugged, then glanced back at the crowd behind them. "Somehow I have a feeling that there's no way I'm getting you on that dance floor."

He smirked. "You should listen to that feeling, it's got a very good reputation of being right. On the other hand, I'd be more than willing to take a walk with you outside."

She brightened. "Okay!" He laughed and sat his glass down. She grabbed his wrist and the two slipped past the dancers and out the door into the moonlit night.

She released him and sighed happily, spinning around. "I love this time of day," she confessed. "Every thing's so peaceful at night."

He walked slowly behind her as she skipped on the sand. "I like it early in the morning, just before the sunrise. It seems like the world is holding its breath, then releases it at dawn."

"I didn't know you were such a poet at heart," she teased lightly.

He chuckled. "When I'm in the mood. Luckily for us all, it doesn't happen very often."

She giggled before stopping and stared out at the sea. "There's two moons out tonight," she murmured thoughtfully.

He came up behind her and took her hand. "The question is, which one is real and which is the reflection? And if that one's the reflection," he said pointing up to the crescent moon hanging in the sky. "What does that make us?"

"Ugh," she groaned and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm too tired to go into philosopher mode tonight, you meanie." As if on cue, the two began to move down the beach again at a much slower pace, their hands still intertwined. The stars high in the sky winked down at them, while the waves played near their feet.

"Hey!" Kory cried, stopping before pointing up at the sky. "There's Silver!" Sure enough, the seagull flew above them silently, a welcome change from the normal squawks from the birds.

"I wonder if she has a mate," Richard thought aloud.

"I hope so," Kory whispered. "It's so lonely when you don't have anybody to love." Richard nodded his agreement, and squeezed her hand gently before continuing their walk.

"I can't wait for the rest of this month," Kory spoke again. "We're going to have so much fun. Surfing and dancing, and dining and swimming. All month long," she sighed happily.

"Not... all month," Richard corrected, grudgingly stopping again. She turned to stare at him, an obvious question in her eyes. "I'm leaving in two weeks. I've got to get back in time for college," he explained.

"Two weeks? That's all?" she cried. He nodded slowly, hating the disappointment in her eyes. "But that's no time at all!"

"I know," he muttered. "But I can't stay any longer. I'm cutting it pretty close as it is."

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "But I don't want you to go. I just found you," she whispered brokenly. He didn't answer her, but instead pulled her in closer to his side.

After a while he turned around and stared at her. She blushed as he examined her, but didn't stop him. He raised his free hand and brushed her hair behind her ear before softly running his fingers down her soft cheek.

"Know what?" he mumbled softly. "The first time I saw you you had that big bowl of berries and fruit. I think that was about five weeks ago." He smiled wistfully. "I thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." She swallowed lightly at the look in his eyes but didn't speak. He began to caress her cheek with his thumb while the rest of his hand kept her head from moving.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked abruptly. She blinked, startled, but nodded softly. He smiled and slowly pulled her face towards his. She wet her lips with her tongue, but didn't fight him and soon his forehead rested on hers. Dark blue met emerald green and their breaths mixed as they slowly closed the distance between them.

She moved her hands up his muscular chest slowly and wrapped her arms around his neck, before moving them up into his hair. The hand on her face moved backwards into her hair and the other arm went around her waist, tugging her snugly into his body. They broke off due to lack of air, but didn't move their faces away. Both smiled at each other, their eyes shining from the love they felt from the kiss.

"I've been wanting to do that all evening," she confessed. He stared at her.

"You too?" he asked, flabbergasted. She blushed, but nodded, still smiling that loving smile that warmed his heart. "I've been wanting that all month. But mostly tonight," he conceded.

She sighed happily, and lay her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad you smiled at me from across the bonfire that night," she murmured.

"Me too. It wasn't that hard to do though," he remarked carelessly. "I'm actually not surprised you were staring at me."

"Oh really?" she asked, raising her head and an eyebrow.

"Yup," he nodded, grinning roughishly. "Lots of people stare at me."

She rolled her eyes. "Great. _Now _I find out what a big ego you have."

He laughed, and kissed her swiftly again. "These last two weeks are going to be fun," he said playfully. "Now that we've included kissing on that list of yours."

She shook her head at him, but leaned back on his chest, and smiled.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Your heartbeat," she answered smoothly. He rolled his eyes, but kissed her softly on the top of her head. She looked up at him, and he smiled, felling strangely proud of himself. Her cheeks still had a light flush from the kiss, and her lips were still a deeper red then they were normally.

"What's so amazing about my heartbeat?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She giggled softly and burrowed herself into him again.

"Nothing. It's just nice to hear it beating," she confessed.

-END-


End file.
